Review

Star Crossed Seduction tells the story of Miles Trevelyan, a dragoon on his first leave from India, and Temperance Smith, the runaway daughter of a member of the gentry who supports herself by leading a band of pickpockets through the seedier parts of London. Tem is in mourning for her supposedly dead lover when Trev finds her and saves her from an unfortunate situation. While Tem tries to find a way to find her identity away from her life of crime, Trev sweeps them both into a world of intrigue that goes all the way through the British government.

As far as characters go, Trev and Tem had great potential. She started off as fiery and independent minded, taking care of herself while not stooping to selling her body. Trev fit what I expected a military man who was serving in India during this time. Honorable, quick witted and brave, Trev tries to do what he thinks is best for both him and Tem.

Sadly, this plot was held up by a very obvious crutch. The astrology. Oh, the astrology used to move this plot along. Rather than letting Tem and Trev suss out their own emotions toward each other, Brown added in the flighty, good-hearted, but rather annoying character of Lady Hartwood to do “readings” and tell them all about what their Zodiac sign means for the relationship. The use of this plot device is so heavy handed that I often spent page after page rolling my eyes. It did nothing to help the plot in a constructive manner. It allowed what could have been an interesting and exciting story to fall into the range of the maudlin and mildly annoying.

Using quirks like astrology can add interest to a story, but not when used like this. Brown robbed her characters of autonomy and made it difficult to connect with them. I had high hopes that I'd like this book when I started, but unfortunately the characters and the story just never clicked because I kept being pulled out of the narrative by an unnecessary story element.

Reviewed by Taylor